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Kirstie Alley was born in Wichita, Kansas, the daughter of Lillian Mickie (née Heaton), a homemaker, and Robert Deal Alley, who owned a lumber company.[1][2] She has two siblings, Colette and Craig. Alley attended Wichita Southeast High School, graduating in 1969.[3] She attended college at Kansas State University, dropping out after her sophomore year.[3] After moving to Los Angeles to pursue Scientology and work as an interior designer, Alley appeared as a contestant on the popular game show Match Game in 1979 (not during the "Match Game '79" season). She won both rounds, winning $500 in the first round and $5500 in the second round.[4] She also appeared on the game show Password Plus in 1980. In 1981, a car accident caused by a drunk driver killed her mother and left her father seriously injured. Her father eventually recovered.[3]

Before becoming an actress, Alley was an interior designer as she announced during her appearances as a contestant on the game shows Match Game in 1979 and Password Plus in 1980. She made her movie debut in 1982 in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, playing the Vulcan Starfleet officer Lieutenant Saavik, but chose not to reprise that role in the next two sequels, later claiming that she was offered less money than for Star Trek II. In the years following, she starred in a number of smaller films, including One More Chance, Blind Date and Runaway. In 1985, she played Virgilia Hazard in the ABC miniseries North and South, books I and II.

From 1997 to 2000, Alley played the title character in the NBC sitcom Veronica's Closet, as well as serving as executive producers on the show. She served as the spokesperson for Pier One from 2000 to 2004, and for Jenny Craig from 2005 to 2008.

In February 2011, Alley was announced as a contestant on Dancing with the Stars. She was partnered with Maksim Chmerkovskiy. Their first dance, a cha-cha-cha, earned them the second-highest score, 23 points of a possible 30. In May, Alley and Chmerkovskiy performed their final dance, also a cha-cha-cha, which earned them a perfect score of 30 out of 30. Alley finished the competition in second place, behind NFLSuper Bowl champion Hines Ward. She also took part in the 15th season of Dancing with the Stars for a second chance to win the mirrorball trophy[13] again with Maksim Chmerkovskiy. They were the seventh couple eliminated from the competition.

Alley dated Bob Alley in high school. They married in 1970. Her husband had the same name as her father.[14] They divorced seven years later as their career paths diverged.[15] Alley was married to her second husband, Parker Stevenson, on December 22, 1983. They divorced in 1997. Alley and Stevenson shared custody of their two children, William True and Lillie Price.[16] In 2016, Alley became a grandmother after her son William had a son of his own.[17]

Alley appeared on The Dr. Oz Show on September 17, 2012, where she admitted that she started gaining weight in late 2003. Alley claimed she had been a compulsive eater her entire life without gaining weight, and only noticed a change in her body after she went through early menopause in 1992.[19]

While working as a Jenny Craig spokesperson from 2004 to 2007, Alley lost 75 pounds (34 kg), bringing her weight down to 145 pounds (66 kg).[20]

In May 2009, she told People magazine that, after parting ways with Jenny Craig, she gained 83 pounds (38 kg) and weighed as much as 228 pounds (103 kg).[21]

In September 2011, Alley announced that she had lost 100 pounds (45 kg) using weight loss products from Organic Liaison, a company she had founded in 2010.[22] In 2012, she faced a class-action lawsuit alleging false advertising; the suit claimed that her weight loss was the result of exercise, including training for the TV show Dancing With the Stars, not Organic Liaison products. She settled the suit in 2013, agreeing to remove the term "Proven Products" from packaging, issue a disclaimer on the brand's website that it is a "calorie-based weight-loss product", and pay a $130,000 settlement.[23][24]

In April 2014, she reunited as a spokesperson with Jenny Craig; the Organic Liaison product line was acquired by Jenny Craig's parent company, and subsequently integrated into Jenny Craig's product line.[23] In January 2015, Alley claimed that, since starting the Jenny Craig weight-loss program again, she had lost 50 pounds (23 kg).[25]

In May 2000, she purchased a 5,200 sq ft (480 m2) waterfront mansion from former Scientologist Lisa Marie Presley for $1.5 million. The house is in Clearwater, Florida, the spiritual headquarters of the Church of Scientology. Alley donated $5 million to the Church in 2007.[30]